La Jolla Half 2014 Recap!

My stomach has been in knots for weeks, no, months about this darn race!  Why?  Because of this:

The CRAZY hills!  Not one not two but lots.  Little ones and big ones and medium ones!  All OVER the course!

Let's back up (oh no!  Is SD Mom really going to tell us about her HIP AGAIN?!)...yes, I have a hurt hip.  But it wasn't going to stop me from completing this race.  La Jolla Half is the 2nd race of the Triple Crown Series.  You can read about it here.  So since I did Carlsbad already, and I had already paid for La Jolla and AFC, I knew I had to follow thru and cross that finish line in under 3 hours.

I took myself to Road Runner San Diego for the Expo on Friday.

And picked up my shirt and bib.

Got myself a little Triple Crown Merchandise because as we all know: #imayhavearunninggearaddiction

And of course, had to shop inside RRS itself and stock up on Nuun lemon tea flavor.  

While I was in there, I stopped at the Hoka One One booth to check out the shwag and was rewarded with the much coveted bottle opener.

The same day, I visited my acupuncturist, Ryan.  Have you ever tried acupuncture?  If you are in the San Diego area, I highly recommend Ryan.  He has magic hands or magic needles.  Something like that!  here is his info from Yelp.  Well, he needled (?) my hip, my calf, my wrist and magically, my hip felt GREAT.  Not just good.  I went to bed Friday night thinking I would be okay for Sunday.

Ryan Lee

Next, how am I getting to the race?  You have the option of parking at the finish and shuttling to the start or parking at the start and shuttling back after the race.  My friend Justin had called the week before suggesting we carpool.  I offered to drive this time.  Well, on Saturday, my friend Cris wanted to carpool and soon it was a big carpool party.  Justin, Cris, Laura, Jay and I would meet at McDonalds and drive over together.  I am a paranoid person when it comes to being on time so I suggested we meet at 5:45 for a 7:30 race start.

The McDonalds Crew: Laura, Justin, Cris, SD Mom & Jay

We got to the Del Mar Fairgrounds and met up with some other friends from the Moms Run this Town SD Group.

Cristina, Melissa, SD Mom, Jess, Lisa & Laura

It started out bright and sunny and beautiful!

Started the race with this lovely who also took some action photos for me on the course!

Ericka is a mom, runner and blogger too!  Check out her blog here.

And we were off...

Some pictures on the course - 

And me at Mile 12 (somehow still smiling!):

Torrey Pines Hill was not the only hill.  There were several.  But with every climb came a glorious down hill.  In fact, the downhills were almost harder on my hip (OH NO!  There she goes again) than the hills!  Almost!  Miles 3, 5, 7, 12 were the hardest.  The hill at 12 is the worst!

But then, I was done!

And I celebrated with my family!

At Wahoos where I ate this:

Blackened chicken with cajun white beans and a Pizza Port Chronic Amber on draft!  Best.  Post.  Race.  Meal.  Ever!

Then I came home and had this:

Some thoughts on the race:

-  Prettiest course I have ever seen and can ever imagine!  80% of it was on the coast.

-  The breezes helped so much on this sunny day.

-  My awesome BRF Jess PR'd on this course.  No one does that!

-  I gear checked for the first time in a race and loved it!  

-  Beer is a great post race drink, a close second to a Bloody Mary!

-  The hills are killer but if your hip is broken, the down hills are worse.

-  Not as much course support or local support as the Carlsbad Half.

-  I AM NEVER DOING THIS RACE AGAIN!

-  Everything is worthwhile when these two make an appearance:

Did you race this weekend?  Have you run the LJ Half?  Do you like hills?  Gear check?

As always, I wish you Happy Feet,

SD MOM